Cape Town's Robben Island

Robben Island, or "Robbeneiland" in Afrikaans (meaning "seal island"), has been used to isolate certain people (mainly prisoners, but it was also used as a leper colony and an animal quarantine station) since the 17th century. In the Second World War, the island was fortified and guns were installed as part of the defences for Cape Town. Later on, during the Apartheid era in South Africa, Nelson Mandela and Kgalema Motlanthe, alongside many other political prisoners, spent decades imprisoned on the island.

The island in Cape Town's Table Bay (about 7km off the coast) is 3.3 km long north-south, and 1.9 km wide, with an area of 5.07 km². It is rather flat and only a few meters above sea level.
Some years after the end of Apartheid the island was turned into a museum (Robben Island Museum) and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999. All tours on the island are led by guides who were formerly prisoners on Robben Island. Ferries to get there depart at 9am, 11am, 1pm and 3pm, weather permitting, from Nelson Mandela Gateway, at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town.

Walk to Freedom Tour including Robben Island
Departs: Daily, year round
Start Times: Approximately 8.30am
Duration: 8 hours
The day begins with a visit to the cobbled streets, brightly coloured houses and mosques of the Bo Kaap (Malay Quarter) and then continue to the District Six Museum, which documents the tragic disintegration of this once-vibrant community by the Apartheid Government. Experience a slice of township life in Langa - the oldest Apartheid housing scheme in the Western Cape and Guguletu including the opportunity to visit a shebeen (pub!). Contemplate this land of contrasts over lunch in the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront district before embarking on a three-hour cruise of the bay and visit to Robben Island to follow in the footsteps of Nelsen Mandela.

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